New Ulm weekly review., 1887-04-06
ind whetherit was revolution or q

to get into a doze, and was succeeding
when the alcade rushed into my room
with a bevy oil hisretainers and pull
ed me into a.sitting posture.
''The senor's commands have been
obeyed," said the alcade excitedly.
.'The dog of a bandit has been arrest
ed, and will be tried before eat once
But we need the senor's testimony
Without the senior we can do nothing."
It took me almost no time to dress
and accompany the little brown al
cade and his browner alguazils to the
pretentious stone edifce on the plaza
called the palace OF justice.
Ihad never seen criminal trial in
q Mexican court, and everything was
new to me. The alcade presided with
great dignity. He was assisted Ey a
prosecuting officer and several advo-
Gates, as they call their lawyers, were
also on hand. The court room was
filled with crowd Of eager spectators
all talking, swearing, and shaking their
fists at the prisoner. The robber,
Francisco, was the most unconcerned
looking man in the crowd. Surround
ed by alguazis, he was not handcufed,
and when he saw me he smiled and
made me polite bow.
The proceedings dragged all through
the weary day. My limited knowledge
OF the language made it impossible for
me to follow everything that was said
but | understood that an effort was
being made to prove an alibi.
Three men with rather honest faces
swore that on o'clock on the previ-
Gus evening they had imbibed pulque
with Francisco at a little village twenty
miles west of San Pablo. If they told
the truth, OF course my robber could
not have been Francisco.
It Initiated me to see so much i'm
portance attached to the alibi and to
my case, because I had been led to be.
lieve that the prisoner would be held
anyhow, as he was wanted for other
crimes, and a big reward had been or
fered for him. / was told, however,
that in Yucatan q prisoner when he
demands a trial, must be tried or re-
leased inside of twelve hours. In order
to hold him, therefore, the San Pablo
authorities had to make the most OF
my evidence.
The alibi business worried the
old alcade not a little. The
three witnesses who swore to meet.
ing Francisco on the afternoon before
were reputable men. On the other
hand l was a stranger and an Ameri-
can. Several times during the day I
was recalled to the stand and examin-
ed and cross-examined. The utmost
courtesy characterized the examina-
ton, but it had latitude that would
not have been permitted in an Ameri-
can court. Frequently a spectator
would interrupt with a question, or
make a suggestion to the alcade Once
Francisco remarked that he was tired,
and would take it as a favor if the
court would hurry up!
Towards the close of the day I saw a.
man on the outskirts of the spectators
whose face and manner attracted my
attention. He was the very image OF
Francisco, the prisoner. -
changed my position so as to get
a better view. The resemblance was
wonderfully striking The man was
just Francisco's age height, size and
complexion. His sombrero shaded
his right temple and prevented me
from seeing whether it bore the pecul-
lar scar which dis6gured the robber.
His costume was the same as Fran
cisco's, but, as nearly rybody wore
homespun Of the same color and pat
tern, this didn't excite my surprise.
'1f he has the scar,'' muttered,
she could pass anywhere for Francis
CO. It would be impossible to tell
them apart
Naturally began to understand the
alibi. The men who swore that they
saw the highwayman twenty miles
away from the scene of his crime at
the very moment he was tying my
hands, might honestly be mistaken.
They had seen this mysterious stran-
ger. But they had sworn to the scar.
Could it be possible that the stran-
gers face bore such a mark?
determined to edge my way to him
in the crowd and accidentally knock
off his sombrero in order to look for
the fiery crescent.
When / reached that side of the
building the man was gone. l made
every effort to find him, but finally
gave it up. He had either left the
room or had shifted his position, keep.
ing other persons between us SO as to
screen him from my view.
AS it was growing dark, four tallow
candles were lighted, but the gloomy
stone walls made the room look al
most as dark as ever.
was wondering what would be the
outcome of the case, when the lights
were suddenly blown out.
"Keep in your places" shouted an
alguazil. "Order in the palace of JUS
tice!''
The candles were re.lighted, and then
| was beheld such a scene as has rarely
ever been beheld in a court room or
anywhere else.
In front OF the alcalde's bench stood
two scar-faced men as much alike as
two brown peas!
"Merciful saints!" CALCULATED an al
guazil. "Do see double, or are there
two Franciscos?'